Could Europe Put a Stop to the Death Penalty in Texas?

Texas will no longer be allowed to import sodium thiopental, a drug used for executions, from overseas.

This week, Oklahoma’s Supreme Court stopped the executions of two convicted murderers. At issue: where the state gets its execution drugs. The state does not want to reveal its source.

Texas also has long kept its lethal drug suppliers secret, although Attorney General Greg Abbott recently issued an opinion stating it’s time to go public. But as death penalty opponents increase the pressure to expose suppliers and to disrupt the supply of the drug, some states are reviewing their options on capital punishment.

In this week’s Texas Standard spotlight interview, David Brown speaks with University of Richmond School of Law’s Corinna Lain about recent developments in states’ efforts to adapt their capital punishment laws as it grows more difficult to get the drugs for lethal injection.

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